Mendocino County band The Real Sarahs sing harmonies from the heart

Humans have many ways to capture music so they can hear it whenever or wherever they want. But none of them can capture how it feels to be at a live performance, either for the audience or the musicians.

“There’s nothing like being on stage and hitting that sweet spot,” said Sarah Larkin, describing the moment when the voices of her band The Real Sarahs are not just in harmony, “but have become something greater together than just the three parts.”

Because hearing yourself hit a beautiful note is one thing, but knowing other people were moved by the experience is something else entirely. Especially when those people come up to you afterward and tell you how much they were affected by what you sang.

“Your harmonies are the medicine I needed,” said a man listening to the group sing in the Alex R. Thomas Jr. Plaza Friday afternoon, asking the women who they were and when they would be playing next.

“Something about our harmonies really gets through to people, they really penetrate and help people hear our stories,” said Larkin, explaining that the Sarahs aren’t just sharing their well-trained voices in their performances, but real pieces of themselves in their original songs.

“We’re putting our experiences and our vulnerabilities out there to reach other people,” she said. “So it’s so meaningful to have people respond. “

“We call it the ‘boomerang effect,’” said Sarah Ryan, who formed the band with Larkin several years ago. “All the love we put out there, it’s coming right back to us.”

“It’s amazing to hear your words being sung back to you,” said Sarah Rose McMahon, the third Sarah to join the group. “It’s very flattering.”

A trio blooms

Larkin and Ryan first performed together when a friend suggested they join the Anderson Valley Variety Show in 2010, then thoroughly bonded while completing an apprenticeship later that year.

“We would sit in the bunkhouse together at night and just sing,” recalled Ryan, who grew up singing with her blues musician father while Larkin was learning to harmonize by singing with her older sister in New England.

As a duo of Real Sarahs, they found enough success to keep recording and performing despite the many challenges unfolding in their lives – day jobs, divorce, motherhood – but they have definitely felt a strong upward shift in momentum since becoming a trio about a year ago.

Last summer, the group played to their largest audience yet during Concerts in the Park at Todd Grove Park, then soon encountered their first “super fan” while playing at the Saturday Afternoon Clubhouse in downtown Ukiah.

“He was singing all of the words to every song,” said Ryan, smiling at the memory. “It’s really something to say, ‘OK, we’re going to play this song,’ and to hear someone cheering and yelling, ‘Yeah!’ before you’ve even started it.”

Another significant success the band achieved was not only playing the Kate Wolf Festival near Laytonville last year, but recently getting that much-hoped-for invite back for this year.

“Having the organizer call and say, ‘I listened to the soundboards from the event and you guys were great’ was so validating,” said Larkin, admitting they had all been practically holding their breath waiting to hear back.

“And this time, we will be on the main stage,” said Ryan.

As their popularity has risen and “the phone keeps ringing and the emails keep coming,” Larkin said she found it more difficult to manage The Real Sarahs and run a separate business. So she decided recently to focus on the band and put her nursery near Boonville up for sale.

That will definitely help her focus on preparing for the band’s first tour, a two-week journey up to Seattle with stops in Oregon.

“It is a new challenge because we don’t have the same connections in the Pacific Northwest that we do here,” said Larkin, describing a “family” of supporters locally who offer them rehearsal space and other help. “But my mother was a booking agent, so I definitely learned some of those skills early on that are helping me.”

Since Ryan and McMahon still have their day jobs as teachers, “we picked somewhere we could go on our two-week Spring Break,” said Ryan, adding that juggling a day job and motherhood while trying to fit in rehearsals and performances is definitely a struggle.

But perhaps the most difficult struggle for all of them is one likely everyone faces every day: insecurity.

“It’s that little voice inside you asking if I’m good enough, special enough,” said Ryan, and the rest of the group agreed that every person pursuing their dream has to conquer that demon.

Which is why seeing a live audience, and hearing from their fans in person, is so important.

“Then we know we are making a difference, that we are touching people in some way,” Larkin said. “That makes it all worth it.”

So while “all validation is good” in this digital age of social media and virtual applause, nothing can replace seeing fans “taking the time out of their day to show up in person. And hopefully bring a friend.”

Your next chance to catch The Real Sarahs live will be at Shanachie Pub in Willits on Feb. 10 at 8:30 p.m. and at the Ukiah Methodist Church for “Ukiah Unplugged” on Feb. 16